Safety And Reliability Of Our Vehicle’s Steering – We Owe A Debt To Early Hot Rodders And Auto Racers
We owe a debt of gratitude to early hot rodders. Those who modified and raced cars in their day pushed along the development and evolution of cars and vehicle steering mechanisms so now we can count on precise, safe and reliable steering mechanisms and units without question.
It is always interesting that is usually not the factory design teams, with all their resources, that push along developments and modifications in the automotive industry. It is often the hobbyist, the guy in his home garage, who under competition leads to the development and progression of what becomes improvements and modifications in the automotive. At a later point the automotive industry will step in to mass produce the improvements into features and options that gain widespread use in our vehicles and on our highways.
Just before and after the 1940s vintage car periods most sport car enthusiasts and hot rodders were driving pre-1935 Fords. The most popular steering gears swapped among speed and hot rod enthusiasts was the pre-1934 Ford steering gear units. It had a...